Returning To Work With Confidence - CareforKids.com.au®

Returning To Work With Confidence
How can you do it…

Despite our previous article revealing the lack of a case for children of working mums being negatively affected in child care, the fact of the matter is that mums are the ones more often negatively affected when they return to work and put their child in child care than the children are.

Unfortunately for many mothers today, in particular in countries like Australia where the cost of living has soared over the last ten years, working is not necessarily a "choice", but a necessity. Many working mums would love to stay at home with their children most of the time, but family financial needs simply require both parents to be working.

And it's women at every level who find it hard to cope. Recently in the reality show, marie claire: Under the Cover, Jackie Frank, mother of Charlie, 13, and Ella, 11, revealed her inner turmoil, saying she felt she didn't spend enough time with them." I think that all women who work have a guilt ... it's so hard to do both," she said.

And it's not just guilt that's difficult; going back to work can also be very hard due to a lack of confidence in your own ability to do your job. You may have just cracked the parenting thing, but suddenly it's back into the office where you're expected to be on top form as a great boss or an efficient team member; leading, consulting, managing and training when in reality you've been out of the loop for the last 12 months.

A Return to Work poll we ran earlier in the year revealed that a third of women returning to work had heard nothing from their employers while they were on maternity leave and just under half had only been contacted about their return to work for the obligatory confirmation of dates etc. Almost two thirds had had no support - practically or emotionally – in integrating back into the workforce. They were simply expected to pick up the reins and get back into their roles without having been kept in the loop at all.

This has huge effects on someone's confidence, and can drastically affect new mums' moral at work, their confidence in their ability to do their job and general enjoyment of being back in the workplace, at a time when they are emotionally vulnerable, tired and often having difficulty in adjusting to not being with their baby.

Last month's mum in profile, Melinda Ayre said: "The hardest thing about returning to a fast-paced Newspaper office was my surprising lack of confidence - I felt like a very different person than the vibrant woman who had left 12 months before. My body image, my life priorities and my brain power had all changed dramatically".

One of the most key things about helping women returning to work to feel confident about re-taking their role is to keep them fully in the loop in the first place. We don't mean to be continually hassling them and making them make decisions when they're supposed to be on leave and enjoying motherhood, but by simply remembering they're still a part of the team; keeping them informed of key decisions and activities, inviting them out for work socials and providing any sort of information and support they might need in advance of their return to work.

CareforKids' Stay In Touch program helps give employers the ability to keep connected to mothers on maternity leave.

Easy on the Employer as well as on the Employee:

Stay In Touch offers forward thinking companies the ability to maintain regular communication with employees on leave through an easily "customizable" program packed with information relevant to new parents.
The program is fully automated, so easy for Human Resources departments to manage and automatically matches the ages of babies and stages all new parents go through to each individual, offering a range of resources designed to enhance mums' parental leave and help them transition back to working life successfully.
It's totally personalized so each communication is personally directed to that employee and offers information and help that relates to her circumstances.
Regularly contacting employees via the CareforKids.com.au Stay in Touch program is a simple and innovative way to bridge the gap between work and family life and means parents feel valued, even when they are out of the office…

A truly smart way to Stay in Touch!

Seven Steps To Returning To Work With Confidence

Have a clear agreement on your maternity leave period. Go back when you're really ready. Don't be hurried back to work or feel obliged to go back earlier than planned.
Stay in touch with your employer and colleagues on a regular (if not necessarily frequent) basis
Make sure you've thought child care and travel logistics through – you need to be as organized as possible to maintain calm
If you have a partner, make sure they're giving you full support in your return to work as well and take on joint responsibility for child care pick up and drop off or sick days
If you don't have a partner or even if you do, also have another back up plan (family, friend or regular and reliable nanny or babysitter) for any sick days or unexpected work commitments out of child care hours
Prioritise your daily work commitments/tasks and stick to them. The more organized you are the more in control you'll feel
Be assertive, stick to your guns on work hours and don't be sucked into working late in order to "prove" your commitment.

If you think your company could benefit from CareforKids.com.au innovative Stay In Touch program, Contact CareforKids.com.au for a demonstration.